Body Blues

I've heard about Javier Vargas for a few years now, and my first real introduction to him was a live CD that I was able to obtain a couple months back. Since then I've been able to locate several other CD's that's he's recorded over the last few years. "Gipsy Boogie" is a different CD from the previous one's that I've obtained. While most of the others were solidly into Texas style blues overall, this CD strays in style to a more latin flavored blues. Think Texas blues mixed with Carlos Santana style latin sounds along with a strong dose of Spanish classical and flamenco music. This CD over the others that I've obtained shows Javier Vargas at his most diverse musical styles.

Listening to the the title track of Have Blues Will Travel that opens the second Alligator set by the no-jive, grit-and-gravy Texas blues duo of Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King, one can't help but recall another Texas outfit that used to rock this hard, playing the roadhouse boogie loud and proud: ZZ Top. Kubek's wicked slide playing and King's wrangling, razored leads trade places; the locked-in rhythm section of bassist John Morris and drummer Adrian Marchie gives them some room to really wail. The comparison is not an idle compliment since ZZ Top haven't sounded like themselves since Deguello. This track alone is almost worth the price of the disc. There are other cuts here that hammer just as hard, too, however: "Out of Body, Out of Mind," "One Step at a Time," and the closer "What a Sight to See" carry the same raw, blistering blues and boogie torch…

Bror Gunnar's brand new release is what one could call True Crime Music. Many of the songs are based on known criminal investigations and most of them from Sweden. One case in particular was indeed literary close to home. With a knife killer breaking into people's home on the same street where Bror Gunnar lives. The title song is based on the gruesome murder of Catrine da Costa in 1984. Where the Police found the remains of a woman in a couple of garbage bags ditched by the side of a road in the outskirts of Stockholm. All body parts were found except for the head, and the perpetrator was never found.

Three years after Gerry Mulligan initially sat in with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, the baritone saxophonist arrived at a point where he could perform alongside Brubeck's alto saxophonist, Paul Desmond, for this much anticipated session. When legal issues, wranglings with producer Norman Granz, and the question of which record label would subsidize and release this album were resolved, the two saxophonists went ahead to produce a delightful program of standards and originals where their more playful sides could fully blossom…

Stuff Smith spent the final two years of his life performing in Europe; this previously unreleased Swiss concert from 1965 was finally released some 36 years later. The violinist is accompanied by stride pianist Henri Chaix, young bassist Michel Guillemin, and fellow American expatriate Wallace Bishop (who had resided in Europe since 1950) on drums. Smith is in top form, though the inexperience of the bassist is rather obvious during the awkward introduction to "Perdido"; fortunately, things improve rapidly afterwards. In addition to his swinging fiddle, Smith's hoarse vocals are a riot in his "Late Woman Blues" (also known as "Blues in B Flat"), while he breaks up one of his sidemen with his singing of "On the Sunny Side of the Street." The instrumentals are mostly familiar to Smith's fans, including "Take the 'A' Train" and "How High the Moon," though it is the adventurous and occasionally dissonant take of "Body and Soul," a standard rarely played by the violinist, that takes top honors. The sound is very good for such a vintage recording. Swing fans will consider this long-hidden treasure to be an essential CD.

Jose James - Yesterday I Had The Blues: The Music Of Billie Holiday (2015) {Blue Note}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 251 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 118 Mb
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Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Modern Jazz Vocals / Modern Jazz

José James has a reputation as a 21st century musical renaissance man. He's issued a remarkably consistent series of records that blur the lines between soul, funk, dance music, jazz, and rock. In addition, in 2010, he released For All We Know, a fine collection of jazz standards in duet with Belgian pianist Jef Neve. It is from this place that James releases Yesterday I Had the Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday. In his liner essay he cites Holiday as the artist who made him aspire to be a jazz singer. Accompanied by pianist Jason Moran, drummer Eric Harland, and bassist John Patitucci, James delivers a program of beauty and restraint for the centennial of her birth. James, who has the ability to accomplish startling vocalese and scat techniques, brings none it.